Friday, February 26, 2010

World-renowned and highly acclaimed for her artistry behind a camera, Annie Liebowitz' photographs are genius, beautiful and often surprising. The very limited selection from her broad portfolio below say it better than I could ever hope to. . .

Monday, February 22, 2010

The first business trip I took many moon's ago was to Istanbul. I found a beautiful city full of contrast and color. In between the research into the fashion industry that I was doing, I managed to squeeze in some site seeing. The Blue Mosque is fascinating and spectacularly perched above the Bosphorus, the spice market offers a sensory overload and there is no better place to learn how to haggle than the Grand Bazaar -- all of this alongside exciting modern design. Mmmm might be time to put it on my list of places that need to be revisited. . .

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan's longtime friend and partner in canine rehabilitation, Daddy died peacefully surrounded by family on Friday. I am a huge defender of the pit bull as in my experience, they are wonderful, smart, loving and lovable animals with a bad rap no thanks to some of their owners. Per the official notice: "[Daddy] lived each day of those sixteen years happy and fulfilled as Cesar's right-hand-"man," helping to shape the behavior of entire generations of dogs by showing them the way to balance. He stood as champion for calm-submissive pit bulls everywhere..."

To honor Daddy's legacy, the Daddy's Emergency Animal Rescue ["DEAR"] Fund has been established by the Cesar and Ilusion Millan Foundation. The DEAR Fund will provide assistance for dogs who are victims of abuse or violence, man-made disasters, and large-scale natural disasters. Thank you Margaret for forwarding the email notice to me.

Friday, February 19, 2010

I love Florence Broadhurst's patterns and prints and the collection of her work owned by Signature Prints is magnificent! Having read the book ‘Florence Broadhurst: Her Secret Extraordinary Lives by Helen O’Neill, I found her to be fabulous, creative in every way, and very much larger than life -- but maybe not that likeable. Adept at reinvention, this Australian lived life to its fullest in London, Shanghai and Sydney, and was in turn a singer, a dancer, a designer, an artist and a businesswoman.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Up to my eyes in books and admin stuff this week when what I really want to be doing is playing with old sacks, fabric, pom-pom things and patchwork stuff. I have a whole heap of pillows that I want to make for the store! Hopefully next week. . .

Monday, February 15, 2010

We had fun today hanging the beautiful artwork of Kate Moriarty in the store. Based in Los Angeles, Kate uses pastel on suede to create colorful dreamy artwork. She has attracted a growing number of collectors including someone who bought a piece in the store today before we could even hang it!

We are celebrating her work with an open house on Thursday February 18 from 5 to 8 PM so if you are in town, please join us.

The cover of the latest Elle Decor features a beautiful living room with floor to ceiling artwork wrapped around a corner. I love it! With the exception of large pieces, I am somebody who hangs art in collections. Partly because I love the contrast that comes from different styles, colors and subject matter, partly because I believe that that a house is a home and not a gallery, and partly because I have always owned more artwork and stuff to put on walls than walls. In my mind when it comes to home decoration anything you hang on a wall falls into the category of artwork including personal photos, certificates, college pendants, collectibles . . .

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Friday, February 12, 2010

I am a huge fan on Indian film director, Mira Nair. She has a long list of great movies to her name but my favorite isMonsoon Wedding. A celebration of family and everything that entails full of saturated color and dance -- I can smell the marigolds every time I watch it! Marigolds were one of my parents' flowers of choice in the house on Henry Road so their scent always brings back memories of collecting the deadheads that were full of seeds at the end of the season so that they could be planted the next year.

Talking about Monsoon Wedding, Mira Nair says: "I wanted to capture, first and foremost, the spirit of masti (which means an intoxication with life) inherent in the full-bodied Punjabi community from where I come, and then, to capture the India that I know and love, an India which lives in several centuries at the same time. As Arundhati Roy put it, “as Indian citizens we subsist on a regular diet of caste massacres and nuclear tests, mosque breakings and fashion shows, church burnings and expanding cell phone networks, bonded labor and the digital revolution, female infanticide and the Nasdaq crash, husbands who continue to burn their wives for dowry and our delectable pile of Miss Worlds.” It couldn’t be said better. Such were the fluid pillars of the India I wanted to put on film — 68 actors, 148 scenes, and one hot monsoon season later, using paintings, jewellery, saris, and furniture taken from relatives on the screen, with each member of my family acting in it, after shooting exactly 30 days, a film was born that then had a journey so different from any expectation (more correctly, non-expectation) that we might have had for it during its making. People from New Delhi to Iceland to Hungary to Brazil to America believed it was their wedding, their family, themselves on that screen — and if they didn’t have a family, they yearned to belong to one like the people they saw on screen."

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

The Cape Town-based, super-talented illustrator, textile designer and blogger, Heather Moore posted an interview with me on Elle Decoration South Africa's blog yesterday. Love her work and this great picture of all her teatowels on her Skinny Laminx site! Thank you, Heather!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Thought I would start the week with the vibrant creativity of the super talented designer, Muriel Brandolini! Only someone very good with color can make a yellow carpet, purple chairs and blue walls work -- love the last picture! Photos all from her site.